The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to multi-modality imaging systems and more particularly, to imaging pallets for multi-modality imaging systems.
Multi-modality imaging systems can scan one or more regions of interest (ROI) of a patient using different imaging modalities. Multi-modality imaging systems may include Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Positron Emission Tomography (PET), radiography imaging, x-ray imaging, and/or Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) imaging systems, among others. By way of example, in some multi-modality imaging systems, the different modality units may have respective field of views (FOVs) at different axial locations along an examination axis. During operation, a patient is moved to a first FOV where an image of the ROI is obtained with a first imaging modality unit and then moved to a second FOV where another image of the ROI is obtained using a second imaging modality unit. A doctor or medical technician (or the system) may then review or combine the images from the different modalities.
Depending upon the imaging modality being used, certain geometries of the pallet may cause artifacts within the images. To address this challenge, imaging systems may use a separate pallet for positioning within each type of imaging modality. However, this can be costly and require extra time for a technician to change the pallets.
In other multi-modality imaging systems, a common pallet is used for the different imaging modalities. One advantage in using one common pallet is that the patient does not move with respect to the common pallet. Motion controllers and position encoders may be used to register the position of the pallet during each image acquisition to enable accurate and automatic registration of the images taken with the different modalities. However, the common pallet may not be optimally designed for all of the imaging modalities thereby affecting imaging quality.